Thrawn correctly surmises that the rebels wish to use the recorder to find a weakness, much as they will with the Death Star plans in "A New Hope," while Pryce suspects that the heavy hyperdrive will be hidden nearby.

At a nearby rock formation, Erza and Jai Kell (Dante Basco) are disguised as Scout Troopers while they assist Zeb (Steve Blum) in locating the hyperdrive. Ezra and Zeb begin to argue as they struggle in their search, but the white Loth-cat pounces on top of the rock hiding the drive — foreshadowing the episode's mystical elements.

An Imperial patrol transport lands near Pryce and we are introduced to Rukh (Warwick Davis). Fans of the Legends continuity will remember the vital role this Noghri warrior played in Timothy Zahn's much-loved Thrawn Trilogy. It's even cooler that he's voiced by Davis, who has appeared in many "Star Wars" movies and shows since he played Wicket the Ewok in "Return of the Jedi."

Not one for pleasantries, he immediately begins to sniff the air intently.

Jai spots Rukh, so he and Ezra put on their most convincing Imperial act as he approaches. The Noghri seems convinced, until he suddenly attacks Ezra and pulls him to the ground.

Jai opens fire, but Rukh dodges and launches into the air for another attack — until Ezra uses the Force to slam him into a rock.

"Jedi," he growls, just as Pryce and a squad of stormtroopers arrive in a ground transport.

Advertisement

The teenagers flee on a speeder bike and Rukh tells Pryce to find the Lasat before giving chase on his own speeder.

In an impressive feat of agility and strength, Zeb has scaled a tall rock formation with the massive hyperdrive in hand. He cheekily commandeers Pryce's transport, almost flattening the Imperials as he escapes.

Jai and Ezra try to lose Rukh and the two biker scouts in a trench, but the Noghri isn't easily deterred. He attacks with the same kind of electrostaff using by Gen. Grievous' IG-100 MagnaGuards in "Revenge of the Sith," forcing Ezra to defend with his lightsaber, before sneakily throwing a homing device onto the rebels' bike.

Ezra throws a detonator onto an overhanging rock formation to block the Imperials' pursuit, crushing one of the scouts and forcing the other to stop. However, Rukh just speeds up and leaps over it.

The teen opens fire, destroying the assassin's speeder. He leaps onto a rock and snarls while the rebels make their escape.

Rukh displays very similar abilities to Zeb — a battle between the two would be nice to see.

At the rebel camp, Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar) is ready to insert the hyperdrive into their B-Wing so they can bring the Defender plans back to Yavin IV. When the Mandalorian walks away, Kanan asks Hera how she wants to live when the Empire is overthrown and the galaxy is free, but she says she hasn't thought about it.

\"Star Wars\": Where are they now?

Ryder Azadi (Clancy Brown) interrupts, telling them that a transport is approaching. They take aim at the vehicle before a familiar face pops out.

"Look what I got," says a very pleased Zeb, just before Ryder's blaster bolt lands inches from his head.

"Oh, I guess I should have mentioned I stole the transport."

Ezra and Jai arrive seconds later, telling Kanan about their "small, creepy and very dangerous" new adversary. They don't know that Rukh has followed the tracker he put on their bike, or that he's letting Pryce know the location of their camp.

Chopper and Sabine get the hyperdrive ready, but only give it a 50/50 chance of getting the U-Wing to Yavin IV. They don't have much time to consider those odds however, as Pryce and Rukh arrive in a pair of "Occupier" combat assault tanks.

Jai escapes in a speeder with some supplies and Hera prepares to leave. Kanan awkwardly tries to address their moment of near-intimacy earlier and she simply kisses him.

Finally.

Sabine notices this and quietly points it out to the other rebels — no doubt they've been waiting for this as much as the audience has. After their kiss, Hera looks tenderly at Kanan and steps onto the U-Wing.

Captain Hera Syndulla and Jedi Kanan Jarrus wonder if they have been drawn to Lothal. (Disney)

"May the Force be with you," she says, as the cargo bay door closes.

Kanan smiles goofily, while Chopper and Hera take off. Seeing this, Pryce tells her Imperial allies to prepare to stop the ship as it tears towards the blockade in Lothal's orbit.

Hera is chased by TIE fighters and orders Chopper to calculate the jump to hyperspace as she flies towards one of the many construction spheres to escape the Star Destroyers' turbolaser fire. Thrawn smirks as one of his officers informs him that their enemy will be trapped.

Bringing the U-Wing into the sphere's hangar — which has openings on both sides — Hera jumps to lightspeed and wipes out the Imperials in her path. This dangerous move is a bit like the one Han Solo pulled as he escaped the Rathtars in "The Force Awakens."

Advertisement

"Sir, I regret to report that Captain Syndulla has escaped," the officer tells Thrawn, causing the Chiss' expression to darken.

On the ground, the rebels' options for escape are limited when the Imperials destroy Zeb's stolen transport. Ezra notices some Loth-wolves — led by the white one that aided him before — passing between the rock formations and urges his allies to follow them.

"This is good," Zeb tells a concerned Ryder. "When it gets strange like this, it's a good thing."

The former governor of Lothal hesitates a moment longer before following.

"How have you people stayed alive so long?!" he shouts, just as the Imperials overrun the camp.

Rukh leaps off the tank and observes that the rebels have ventured further into the rocks. The Noghri's keen senses also tell him that they aren't alone.

Why can everyone suddenly perceive these creatures? Can they selectively mask their presence?

Gov. Pryce isn’t happy when Thrawn interferes in her ground search for the rebels. (Disney)

He offers to hunt the rebels down, but a condescending Pryce tells Rukh he had his chance and decides to call in TIE bombers to deal with them instead.

"Turn those mountains into dust," she tells the lead TIE's pilot.

The rebels follow the trio of Loth-wolves to clearing, where they lie in wait. The two dark wolves seem aggressive, but the white one Ezra met before appears placid.

"What are you waiting for?" the teen asks, prompting the wolf to look at Kanan.

The blind Jedi can tell he's being watched and steps forward. The three wolves walk into a nearby cave and the rebels step into the darkness.

Sabine activates her torch to see cave paintings depicting people following a wolf and Zeb observes that they must not be the first to do this. They all round a corner and Ezra tells Sabine to switch off the torch, leaving the wolves' glowing eyes as the only light source.

"There wasn't picture of wolves eating those people, was there?" asks Zeb, just as the cave walls start to shake.

Their concern is directed above when they realize that the Empire has started to bomb the area, and the wolves beckon them further into the darkness. They see a bright blue light and all fades to white.

The lead Loth-wolf seems to walk over some shallow water and we cut to white Loth-cat, which is sitting among the rebels as they lie unconscious on one of Lothal's grassy plains. It licks Ezra and he awakens to find himself in a well-lit cave with walls covered in the same kinds of drawings Sabine observed earlier.

The rebels step outside, walking between the aggressive pair of wolves as they go, and find that they're on a path cut into the side of a large mountain.

"You're not gonna believe this," says Sabine. "We were in the northern hemisphere, now we're in the southern hemisphere. Somehow, we've moved halfway across the planet."

Thrawn’s irritation is clear when Hera escapes again. (Disney)

Everyone is perplexed, but Ezra joins Kanan and the lead wolf back in the cave. The Padawan notes the similarities between the room and the Jedi temple they found on Lothal. The images on wall show people — most likely Jedi — coming down from the sky.

"Dume," says the wolf, for the second time (though this time it's a bit clearer).

Ezra wonders aloud what it means.

"Dume is my name," says Kanan, removing his mask and revealing his sightless eyes. "Caleb Dume is the name I was born with."

When the teen asks how the wolf could know that, his master concludes that "it has a deep connection to the Force" and the planet's energy — in a more focused, purposeful way than other beings.

Could Emperor Palpatine be seeking some kind of dark side artifact on Lothal? That would be a suitable Force-related threat to match the military one posed by the Empire.

The wolf says "Dume" one last time before backing into the shadows, which dissipate to reveal a crack over a drawing resembling the Lothal Jedi temple. Ezra's thoughts turn to Hera and Kanan says he knows she made it back to Yavin IV.

It turns out that Kanan is right, as we cut to the U-Wing landing at the Massassi temple and Hera hands the flight recorder to Mon Mothma.

The final season of "Star Wars Rebels" continues on Mondays at 9 p.m. on Disney XD. Check out the official trivia guide for this episode.